Global petrochemical major LyondellBasell today said it has restarted crude distillation unit, Houston refinery, which had caught fire last month, after repairs.

"...Houston refinery returned a crude distillation unit to service on July 1", LyondellBasell said in a statement.

The unit, one of the two heavy crude distillation units with the capacity of 268,000 barrels per day refinery, was shut down on May 17 as a result of a fire.

LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies, was formed in December 2007 with the acquisition of Lyondell Chemical Company by Basell Polyolefins. The deal created the world's third largest independent chemical company, with sales of USD 30.8 billion in 2009.